Showa Kogaku - 194x Semi Leotax - Possible Original

Good morning!

I was doing some reading today about an old occupied Japan camera that my great grandfather had.

It is a Shoya Kogaku Semi Leotax with a Wester 75mm Anastigmat lens.

I was hoping someone might be able to help me further identify it.

The Camera wiki claims that there are no known samples of the original model which had a manual film key and 2 red windows on the back. This one has these things and does not appear to be the newer version, as those only had one red window in the back.

Thank you!

It's very possible you do have the only known sample of the original model.

You will probably have to do a lot of digging around and writing emails to various websites to get an educated answer.

I would try sending an email to the Japan Camera Museum: https://www.jcii-cameramuseum.jp/top-e/

You may have to use Google Translate to find a contact you can write and make an inquiry.

If anyone should know WHO would know, it should be this museum.

Kino said:

It's very possible you do have the only known sample of the original model.

You will probably have to do a lot of digging around and writing emails to various websites to get an educated answer.

I would try sending an email to the Japan Camera Museum: https://www.jcii-cameramuseum.jp/top-e/

You may have to use Google Translate to find a contact you can write and make an inquiry.

If anyone should know WHO would know, it should be this museum.

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Thanks for this! I had a suspicion based on the descriptions. I am excited to find out!

I don't think this is the original, wartime model of the camera, in particular because in the photos of the camera posted at Flickr, it has a CPO stamp in the frame of the viewfinder.


The stamp is <シピオ> : that's 'CPO' rendered in Katakana characters

- see the wiki page


In fact that wiki page has a photo of exactly that stamp on a Semi Leotax.

That stamp means the camera is definitely from the period of US occupation of Japan, and the wiki page suggests 1948-9. You also see <CPO> and <EP> on other cameras. I have a Waltax Junior with <EP>, from maybe 1950-52.
Those stamps were to help control the different taxing of domestic and export goods in occupied Japan, apparently.

In addition, the wartime camera should have a Riese-Anastigmat for a lens; this one has a Wester.

I think the camera is from early in the post-War recovery of production. The great thing is that 120 film hasn't changed in seventy-five years.

This is all great information. Thank you for sharing!

I have attempted to contact the Japanese camera museum to see if they have any additional information.

I was not able to find the information pertaining to which models have manual keys and which do not. But I’m hoping they will know more.

Appreciate you responding!

It also has an occupied Japan embossed marking on the case and the side of the camera. So you’re probably on point about the timing.

RestlessReel said:

It is a Shoya Kogaku Semi Leotax with a Wester 75mm Anastigmat lens.

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Looks exactly like Zeiss Ikon Nettar 515.

RestlessReel said:

The Camera wiki claims that there are no known samples of the original model which had a manual film key and 2 red windows on the back.

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I could not find this claim on Camera Wiki. Here's what they say:
"
The first Semi Leotax made after the war are identical to the wartime examples, except for the absence of the auto-stop device and for the different lens and shutter equipment. They notably have two red windows, and other older features, such as the attachment for a brilliant finder on the corner on the front standard, black paint on the finder's front part, the ⅜-inch tripod thread, and the older hexagonal SEMI LEOTAX logo on the leather.
"

I went and checked the listings of more recent Westlicht/Leitz auctions - I love finding cameras that 'have not been seen' - but no luck.

What I'm wondering is why you would have two red windows if you have auto-stop winding.

Actually it does kind of say what the OP says it says:

Original version, manual film advance​

The original version, released in 1940, has manual film advance. It is not known if it was driven by a key or a knob.

This version is only known from advertisements dated May and November 1940,[4] and no surviving example has been observed so far. The November advertisement in Asahi Camera[5] offers the camera as a new model with a T, B, 1–200 shutter apparently called New Torio[6] and a Riese-Anastigmat (or Rieze-Anastigmat, リーゼアナスチグマット) 7.5cm lens in a choice of f/3.5 or f/4.5 maximum aperture. No price is indicated but it is said that the official price was ¥155.[7]

.. and if it doesn't have auto-stop, it must have the red windows.

Dustin McAmera said:

What I'm wondering is why you would have two red windows if you have auto-stop winding.

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The answer to this question is also in the article:

"
To advance, the user must slide the lever to the right and start turning the knob (in the direction of the engraved curved arrow) until the next number appears, then release the lever and keep on turning until it clicks and locks the knob.
"
Apparently, the "auto-stop" works similar to double exposure prevention on Zeiss Ikon Ikonta 521/16. The shutter release button is blocked after each shot. To unlock you need to start advancing the film. Nothing prevents you from advancing too little or too much. Basically, this is just a reminder, but it works quite well.

This is all wonderful info guys. I may have misread the article. But Dustin pointed out the paragraph that mentions what confused me. Two red windows. No auto stop.

I wanted to share the response I got from the museum. I sent them a fax. And they emailed me back.

In my experience researching most early Japanese cameras, a definite maybe is about as close as I have been able to obtain.

Enjoy using your camera!